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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. bulb — for light
  3. clip — a video
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. fork — in a road
  6. cold — not warm
  7. wind — moving air
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. clip — for paper
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. clip — to cut
  14. wind — moving air
  15. bulb — for light
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. bay — a part of the sea
  24. cold — an illness

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com